Expect some jubilant back-slapping at the David Clark Co. tomorrow, provided Austrian daredevil and skydiver Felix Baumgartner successfully breaks the sound barrier in his 22-mile-plus plunge to Earth from a capsule suspended by a huge helium balloon.

The 43-year-old is making the dive in a suit designed by the Worcester firm, which has been pioneering air and space crew protective gear since 1941.

The “space jump,” which is being sponsored by Red Bull, the energy drink maker, is expected to take place weather-permitting at 6 a.m. Mountain Time (8 a.m. Easter Standard Time) tomorrow.

If successful, Mr. Baumgartner will break the record set in 1960 by former U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Kittinger.

Mr. Baumgartner hopes to make a free fall jump from 120,000 feet up, a little more than 22 miles into the atmosphere. Col. Kittinger's drop measured 102,800 feet, just over 19 miles.

The stunt showcases Worcester's deep involvement over the decades in the development of equipment for the space age.

“The city has played a prominent role,” said William D. Wallace, the director of the Worcester Historical Museum.

David Clark employees have been working on the suit, which is similar to gear used by pilots who fly supersonic jets, since 2010.

The 28-pound unit is designed to protect the wearer in a hostile environment where there is little or no air pressure and where the temperatures down to is expected to drop to 70 degrees below freezing.

Mr. Baumgartner will be making his jump from a pressurized capsule that's attached to a high-altitude helium balloon.

Red Bull officials said they hope Mr. Baumgartner will be launched around sunrise from a parcel near Roswell, N.M. The balloon — when inflated with the non-flammable, lighter than air gas — will be larger in height higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The ascent will take about three hours.

Mr. Baumgartner is expected to break the sound barrier about 35 seconds into his jump, at a speed of 690 miles per hour.

Matthew Koss, an associate professor of physics at the College of the Holy Cross, said the stunt presents a number of challenges but added there's no new technological innovation that will be used.

“NASA, for example, has been sending up balloons for years,” he said.

Mr. Koss said the descent itself will probably be the trickiest. He explained that the drop will build up tremendous energy and heat, which Mr. Baumgartner must work to dissipate.

Mr. Koss said the suit, which is probably made of non-metal materials like ceramics and fiber glass, will do much of the work. He added, however, that Mr. Baumgartner would have to control his drop.

“He might try to glide into some S-curves,” Mr. Koss explained.

He said that Mr. Baumgartner would want to avoid a flat dive, which would provide more body surface that would build more friction and resistance. Mr. Koss said the diver will feel very little difference when he hits the sound barrier.

“If you were an observer, you'd hear a sonic sound of some sort,” Mr. Koss said. “But there's no real impact on the individual doing the dive.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Wallace said David Clark is one of many Central Massachusetts firms that have played a role in aeronautics and space travel. He said Wyman-Gordon Co., for example, provided components for booster rockets; Norton Co. made a water testing device for the moon; FLEXcon manufactured reflective material for the lunar lander, and Allegro Micro Systems Inc. produced the chip that stored the greetings of world leaders for the moon landing.

Neil Armstrong's “One Small Step for Man” address from the moon was carried over a headset and sound system manufactured by David Clark.

“We had astronauts flying into Worcester all the time to be fitted for space suits,” Mr. Wallace said.

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